How about a Howard 500

[BigRedBen]

Hey guys,

I'm a big A2A fan, I've been lurking here for a while and I have quite a few A2A products that I fly very often.

Basically this thread is one of those "why don't you make a..." threads which I know is probably not very popular. But I've been involved in developing a few aircraft for FS over the years and I know that these things take years to do properly. So think of this thread as more of a way of judging how popular one of these would be.

So your probably wondering what aircraft I'm talking about. I am of course talking about the Howard 500!




I had no knowledge of this aircraft until a few years ago and when I first learnt about it I immediately looked to see if there was an FS-X version. I found an old FS2004 version built by the excellent Milton Shupe which has been updated to work with FS-X. Its superb but it is really starting to show its age in regards to the cockpit. In fact the cockpit of that version doesn't work at all in VR which is a big shame .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_500

I've read a lot of accounts of what its like to fly these beasts but one of the best is here on Milton's website : http://www.gjsmith.net/Milton_Shupe/how ... Flying.htm

This beast is fast, heavy, and has a high wing loading so requires a good amount of respect and skill to fly which I guess is one of the things that attracts me to it. The idea of trying to takeoff and land 35,000 lb of taildragger in a crosswind sounds like great fun to me "It has the weight of a DC-3, but half the wing area and twice the horsepower,"

There are only 2 surviving of the 22 originally built and they are owned by the same company so truly are a rare beast which could have only been afforded by the wealthiest back in the early 60s when they were produced.

http://tpaero.com/the-howard-500/

Being in the UK i'm probably never going to even get a chance to see the Howard 500 in real life but the thought of an A2A level version of it is truly mouthwatering...

Anyway I've written enough. If you don't know the aircraft read up on it as its very interesting and I'm sure you'd want to fly one too!

Cheers
Ben

[Scott - A2A]

We watched this beautiful beast startup and takeoff yesterday and it was impressive. I admittedly don't know much about this plane.

Scott.

[Nick - A2A]

Welcome to the forums Ben. I'm pretty sure the Howard 500 would be a popular choice amongst us punters if A2A did ever have a crack. There was a similar thread discussing its merits a while ago: Born to be an A2A plane; The...

Afraid I'm also a member of the "don't know much about them" club, but I'd love to see something like this; or if not, an Electra Junior or a Beech Model 18.

Nick

[sandi]

guys yall have it all wrong, what we need is a Storch.

sandi

[BigRedBen]

We watched this beautiful beast startup and takeoff yesterday and it was impressive. I admittedly don't know much about this plane.

Scott.

Wow really? I'm certainly very envious!

[TuFun]

I did a few repaints when starting my adventure in PS. One of my all time favorite aircraft!

[trindade]

Beautiful bird!

[BigRedBen]

I just love the idea of being on Vatsim and chasing A320s and 737s down in the descent lol.

[Ron Attwood]

No news on the Brabazon yet?

[lowew79]

it would be cool to see a twin engine accu-sim aircraft.

[Dominique]

it would be cool to see a twin engine accu-sim aircraft.

like a Turbo Aero-commander, won't settle for less !

[Bomber_12th]

Not only were both of the Howard 500's in attendance at Oshkosh this year (both owned by Tony Phillippi - N500HP and N500LN), there was also a Howard 250 there as well (N250JR, owned by Wiley Sanders). Although not in attendance at Oshkosh this year, the Mid America Flight Museum, based in Texas, also owns/operates a tri-gear Howard 250 (N177L).

The Howard 250's were built using Lockheed Model 18 type Lodestars, where as the Howard 500's were made using brand new fuselages (designed specifically for pressurization) and only various components (mainly outer wing sections and landing gear) from Venturas and Harpoons. Tony Phillippi actually owns three Howard 500's - the only three left in existence - but of course currently there are only the two fliers. The other one is N137U, which remains under rebuild, but is largely complete.

The Howard 500 N500LN was actually based in the UK for many years, at Coventry and Exeter, from 1978 until just several years ago. It was flown/operated, on and off, up until about 2000, before it was placed into storage, and later under restoration, flying again in 2010, a year after Tony Phillippi purchased the aircraft. It remained flying in England and Europe for a couple years until it was flown back to the US in early 2013.


I live only about a half an hour from where both of the Howard 500's are based, and it has been a joy to see N500HP flying and displayed so often over the years, and now N500LN more recently. Tony Phillippi also owns/operates a gorgeous Grumman Albatross, painted in a matching color scheme to N500LN (it too was at Oshkosh this year) - if you want to see photos of the Albatross, it is N98TP.

[jeepinforfun]

One of my favorite freeware aircraft, would love to see one Accu-simmed.

[Aymi]

What a classy and impressive plane. Looks like a big racer...

[n421nj]

I'd buy one if it was accusimmed. We need a good twin for hauling cargo.